1. Field of the Invention
The teachings provided herein are directed to an impact-resistant casing for breakable containers, and a system comprising the impact-resistant casing and a breakable container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plastic packaging of foods and beverages has long been a solution to the problems associated with the use of breakable containers, such as glass containers. Glass packaging, however, is recognized and accepted as a clean technology, superior to other packaging in many respects. For example, glass is made from sand, soda ash, and limestone—abundant raw materials that deliver superior purity, quality, safety, and taste of contents. The ability of glass packaging to be infinitely recycled into new glass bottles and jars also saves raw materials and energy. Even after continued recycling, glass never loses its original quality, purity, or clarity.
In the past, food and beverage containers were often formed of glass and were generally found to be very effective. Unfortunately, shortfalls were found to exist in the use of glass. Its well known that glass can break, and broken glass can be dangerous, particularly to a child or pets. Glass baby bottles, for example, can become slick, difficult to hold, particularly when wet, which further adds to the risks of dropping the baby bottle. In addition, glass is susceptible to breakage when it undergoes rapid temperature change, such as going from a refrigerator straight in to a microwave or from the microwave straight to the refrigerator. Parents have been using plastic baby bottles to help address these problems, because plastic baby bottles are relatively inexpensive and less susceptible to breaking. Moreover, plastic baby bottles are also lighter, tend to be easier to grip and, if dropped, there is little risk that the plastic baby bottle will ever break.
New data on the leaching of unwanted chemicals from plastics has resulted in a general acceptance that products packaged in glass are healthier for people and the environment than the plastic alternatives. Glass is inert, impermeable, and offers a natural shield that protects the contents of the container. In contrast to plastics, glass eliminates the risk of unwanted chemicals migrating into food and drink. Moreover, consumers continuously tell us that they prefer glass—they overwhelmingly select glass for food and drink when it's practical to do so, due to the belief that food and drink tastes better from a glass container.
The new data on the leaching of unwanted chemicals from plastics includes data on plastic baby bottles. It's recently been shown that plastic baby bottles contain a dangerous chemical called bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic hormone which may cause infertility, cancer and hormonal imbalances in children. BPA has been shown to leach out of plastics when heated and endanger the health of consumers. Such plastics include hard polycarbonate plastic that is used in baby bottles, toddler cups, and water bottles.
The Environmental Health Fund (EHF) released a study titled “Baby's Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Brands of Baby Bottles,” which shows BPA leaches from popular brands of plastic baby bottles when the bottles are heated. The study does not stand alone, as other research was also published earlier this month. According to the EHF report, BPA is “a developmental, neural, and reproductive toxicant that mimics estrogen and can interfere with healthy growth and body function.” The authors warn that animal studies conducted have shown that the chemical “causes damage to reproductive, neurological and immune systems during critical stages of development, such as infancy and in the womb.” The authors further warned that some 95 percent of baby bottles on the market, in the US and Canada, contain BPA. Among the brands tested were Avent, Disney/The First Years, Dr. Brown's, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex. All were found to release alarming levels of BPA when heated. In fact, according to Forbes.com, the United States and Canada have shown great alarm regarding a publication discussing the use of BPA in various consumer products and the release of the BPA from the products when they're heated:                “This is quite concerning. All 19 polycarbonate bottles [investigated in the study] leached BPA when heated. This is clearly showing that BPA is certainly leaching from popular and common consumer products,” Judith Robinson, special projects director with the Environmental Health Fund, was quoted by Forbes as stating Thursday . . . We're calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of BPA in all baby bottles, as well as all food and beverage containers. It's not necessary, and we're calling for an end to it immediately.”        
As such, its now generally understood that glass containers offer superior performance, health benefits, and environmental impact over other types of containers. The performance benefits are particularly pronounced when the glass containers are used for food and drink. The reduction in use of glass containers is most directly linked to the risk of the breakage of the container. Accordingly, one of skill will certainly appreciate an impact-resistant casing that absorbs impact to the container, resists breakage, and retains fractured material from a breakage, thus providing a solution to the problems associated with the use of such breakable containers and a healthier and greener alternative for society.